Souvenir
by fadedelegance
Summary: Post-"For the Defense". T for language. Someone decides to cheer Connie up by posting something humorous on her office door.


**Disclaimer:**** Dick Wolf and NBC own "Law and Order". I don't.**

**A/N****: The idea for this fic randomly came to me on 9/18/11, and I couldn't stop giggling. I hope it makes you laugh, and I hope you enjoy it!**

**For my super awesome readers! C-: ~Abby**

**Souvenir **

Knowing that Marcus Woll was now officially completely disgraced and humiliated and would be spending the rest of his life behind bars, Connie had slept extremely well the previous night. What made her feel even more triumphant was the fact that the son-of-a-bitch was his own downfall—he brought it all on himself.

_Karma is indeed a bitch, _Connie thought, as she rode the elevator up to the floor where she worked.

She smiled at that thought.

Of course, Woll and his fall from grace weren't the only things on her mind.

She also hadn't been able to stop thinking about Mike…

She'd wanted to tell him that his feelings were very much reciprocated—she'd wanted to kiss him 'goodnight', at least embrace him, but for some reason, shyness had gotten the better of her, so instead of letting him know that she loved him, she'd just said 'goodnight' and given him a smile before leaving.

The two of them _really_ needed to talk.

Hopefully, they would—and soon…

The elevator suddenly gave a 'ding!', signaling Connie's arrival on her floor, bringing her out of her musings.

She would soon see Mike. The thought made her blush. She felt her heart start to beat faster.

When she reached her office, she noticed that someone had taped a photo on the door—a photo that was none other than a copy of Marcus Woll's mug shot.

"Okay—" she said, projecting her voice, so the other ADAs who worked in that hallway could hear her, "who put this on my door?"

She was trying very hard not to laugh.

Just then, her friend Lacey Bardwell from the White Collar Crimes division (whose office was a little further down the hall from Connie's), exited her office and approached Connie.

"Good morning, Connie!" she greeted, a devilish grin on her face.

"I should've known!" Connie said, chuckling. "This has you written all over it!"

"And so it does," Lacey said, sounding quite proud of herself, also chuckling. "Admit it, Connie, this just made your morning."

Connie laughed.

"You caught me!" she said. "It just makes it that much more real," she added. "The son-of-a-bitch really is in prison—and he's never getting out."

"Nope—his sorry ass is staying put," said Lacey. "Aww, doesn't he look cute?" she joked. "Just look at that face—he was born for the camera!"

Connie laughed again.

"Hey, Mike!" Lacey then called.

At that, Connie stopped laughing. She blushed and again felt her heart start to beat faster.

"Lacey, don't—don't interrupt him," she said shyly. "He's probably really busy."

"Oh, come on, he'll get a kick out of this!" Lacey said. "Hey, Mike!" she called again.

"What?"

Mike emerged from his office. He hadn't put on a tie yet, and his sleeves were rolled up. He was holding his baseball.

Connie felt a rush upon seeing him.

"Come here, you have to see this!" Lacey said.

Mike felt a rush upon seeing Connie.

A curious expression on his handsome face, he came over to them.

"Doesn't he just look so adorable?" Lacey joked, nodding at the mug shot.

Mike snickered.

"Now _that_ is worth _ten_ thousand words," he said, smirking.

"At _least_," said Connie, who couldn't help but smirk herself.

"So glad to be able to bring some office cheer," said Lacey. "I thought Connie could definitely do with a laugh."

"Definitely," Mike agreed.

Connie smiled.

"Lacey, have I ever told you how clever you are?" Mike asked.

Lacey laughed.

"You have now!" she said. "Well," she added, checking her watch, "I'm due in court in two-and-a-half hours, so I'll see you two later. And don't take that down, Connie!"

Connie chuckled.

"Don't worry, I won't," she said.

She watched Lacey walk down the hallway and enter her office. As soon as Lacey was out of sight, Connie started blushing, feeling extremely shy about having to face Mike.

"By the way," Mike said softly but sweetly, "good morning, Connie…"

Connie turned around to face him. The tender way in which he was looking at her made her breath catch in her throat.

"Good morning, Mike," she said tenderly.

She unlocked her office and then said, "Do you have a moment?"

"Of course," Mike said.

She invited him into the room and closed the door.

There they stood, face-to-face.

"Mike—I'm sorry," Connie said.

"For what?" Mike asked gently. "Connie, what could you possibly have to be sorry about?"

Connie gently took his free hand in hers.

He gently grasped her hand in return.

"I've been so short with you lately, and I feel terrible about it. I was taking my anger and embarrassment out on you, and there's no excuse for that. You've been nothing but understanding and supportive and sweet…You've been wonderful…And I can't thank you enough," she said.

"You're welcome," Mike said sweetly. "Connie…do you think we could talk after work—say…over dinner? Just the two of us?"

Connie smiled.

"Why, Mike…are you asking me out on a date?" she bantered playfully.

"Yes…I am," Mike replied. "That's not a problem, is it? I mean, I'll back off if you want me to. I don't want to make you uncomfortable or…drive you away from me…" he added nervously.

"I would love to," Connie said.

"Really?" Mike asked happily, not sure he'd heard her right.

Connie smiled.

"Yes," she said.

Mike smiled, and she melted. She loved his smile. She thought it was so handsome and that his dimples were so cute.

Perhaps tonight she'd get to kiss him 'goodnight'…

"So in the mean time, how about we continue to work on those appeals, so the Appellate Court can overturn all of Woll's convictions?" she said.

"I wonder how many people had to die just so he could win—just so he could look good?" Mike said darkly. "A hundred and two convictions…" he went on derisively. "How many of those did you actually earn, Marcus? Any of them? Or are you too incompetent of an attorney to win 'the old fashioned way'—so incompetent to the point where people had to pay with their lives just so you could hear a guilty verdict? Is that why you did it? To compensate for your own ineptitude? Or are you just a sociopath? A little of both, maybe?" he added, using Woll's comment about beating him and Connie "the old fashioned way" against him.

"That's what I've been wondering, too," Connie said in the same tone.

"And he was a homicide prosecutor at one point, yet he's a murderer," Mike marveled. "A complete fucking idiot _and_ a hypocrite."

"Seriously," Connie said bitterly.

"I still can't believe what he did to you," Mike said.

He spoke softly, but the anger in his voice was quite pronounced.

"How anyone could ever do that to a beautiful, incredible woman like you…I will never understand that," he said sweetly.

"Mike…" Connie said softly, not knowing what to say.

"It's okay—you don't have to say anything," Mike said tenderly.

They made eye contact for a moment.

"I'm looking forward to tonight," Connie said.

"Me, too," said Mike. "Want to get to work?"

"Yes," Connie replied.

Each let go of the other's hand.

As the two of them left her office for his, Connie made sure to walk close enough to him so that her hand would brush up against his.


End file.
